Photo: Hiromasa Mano
Standing in the way of Marcos and a place in the final of the Medibank International Sydney is Mardy Fish, whom Marcos will face in semi-final action on Friday Down Under.
The 28-year-old Fish will be a very familiar opponent, with Marcos having beaten him in the first match of the season, last week in the first round of the Brisbane International. Marcos also got the better of Fish in straight sets at the Australian Open last year and will be looking for a hat trick of wins over the American.
Fish has made his way impressively through the Sydney draw, bouncing back from the loss to Marcos by defeating Carsten Ball, Evgeny Korolev and Peter Luczak all without the loss of a set. The right-hander’s 2009 season was riddled by injury and brought to a premature end when he underwent left knee surgery in late September. He will be competing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final since February.
Marcos is bidding to reach his eighth tour-level final on the eve of the Australian Open, which begins Monday. He has been in a great run of form the past few months, highlighted by winning three Challenger titles and triumphing at the If Stockholm Open at the close of 2009 to improve his year-end ranking to No. 42, and stated after his quarter-final victory over Hewitt that he believes his best tennis is not far away.
“I'm feeling fit, no injuries, no pain anywhere. I just have to stay solid and keep on working the same way I'm working. It's just a matter of time that it will come. It may take long time, and may take short time. I'm pretty sure that one day, if I stay healthy and work the same way I am now, that it will pay off.”
The match is scheduled for fourth on Ken Rosewall Arena, following both men’s doubles semi-finals and the first singles semi-final after an 11:00 a.m. start in Sydney (midnight GMT, 2 a.m. Cyprus). Marcos is likely to get on court between 3-4 pm.
Check out the full order of play here.
There will be live radio commentary of the match on AO Series Radio and you can follow point-by-point live scores here.
If you live in Australia, there is live television coverage available on Seven Network. Check out the full TV schedule here.
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for all the latest news and photos from Sydney.
Go, Marcos!
